"Looking at the wicket in the morning, I thought 150 runs would have been a good score. It really was a difficult wicket to bat on," said Kabir Khan Afghanistan's national coach after the completion of his team's U-17 Challenge Cup semi-final with Thailand. Afghanistan ended up scoring 218 and won by 151 runs.
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Afghanistan's batsmen were positive from the start, openers Said Abdullah and left-hander Najibullah Zadran not allowing the Thai new-ball bowlers a sniff of an opening. Najib played some strokes which had even the Thai supporters applauding, one square drive hit with so much power that not even the heavy sand-strewn outfield could stop the ball from racing to the boundary.
Thailand's off-spinner Jai Bhagwat with figures of 10-28 in the tournament so far came into the attack in the 12th over with Afghanistan on 81-0. Everyone in Thailand (those associated with cricket at least) knows that Afghanistan don't play spin well.
Bhagwat's first ball was swung by Zadran over long-on for 6. With a 4 to finish the over.
Afghanistan weren't going to be cowed by spin today, good as Bhagwat is. Najibullah's 50 came off 32-deliveries but one miscue off slow left-armer Vichanat Singh led to his dismissal. Said fell to Bhagwat in the next over but Afghanistan scotched any hint of an Afghan resurgence thanks to some disciplined batting by the remaining batsmen.
The run-rate fell with the spinners on and the fielders back. Thailand took all but one of the catches and run-out opportunities offered but Afghanistan were always racing away. 150 was passed in the 28th over, 200 in the 38th.
"We're actually a better batting side than bowling," said Thailand's coach John Hottinger. His side did not get a chance to show their worth. Afghanistan's Afzal Khan and Mohammad Yamani, Hejratullah Akundzadah and Said Abdullah bowled some searing yorkers and kept on attacking the batsmen's stumps with some full-pitched deliveries. They didn't bowl a short-pitched delivery all day. "Batsmen at this age don't play the pitched-up delivery well," says Kabir Khan, "they lack the power to hit 4s and 6s off the front-foot." Thailand did well to keep out the testing bowling but once Said nailed the doughty Bhagwat's off-stump with his first delivery, Bhagwat beaten for pace, Thailand's match was over.
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| Man of the Match Afghanistan's Said Abdullah |
Said finished with 3-13, Zabibullah Danish's top-spinners notched him 4-6, Thailand surviving to the 35th over.
Semi-Final 2: Thailand v Afghanistan at AIT Bangkok
AFGHANISTAN WON BY 151 RUNS
Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat
Afghanistan: 218 off 39.4 overs (N. Zadran 51, A. Amin 51, M. Pak 35; I. Kalra 3-31)
Thailand: 67 off 34.4 overs (S. Abdullah 3-13, Z. Danish 4-6)
Man of the Match: Said Abdullah (Afghanistan)
Scorecard
Filed November 22 2008
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